“Bringing an Illustration to Life” (Part 1)

[Quuador]

I came across this article about ‘the making of’ steps for the Arcanine from the Pokémon 151 set by illustrator Atsushi Furusawa, and thought it was a pretty interesting read and worth a share here: Behind Drawing Pokémon TCG Illustrations“Bringing an Illustration to Life” (Part 1) - Column - Pokémon Trading Card Game Illustration Contest 2024 - PTCGIC2024.

Greetz,
Quuador

[joponnes]

That was indeed a super interesting read, there was also an another one about Darkness Ablaze Milotic by Akira Egawa linked here

Behind the scenes: the process of creating a Pokémon TCG illustration - Column...

[Quuador]

It’s cool to see the results of the ‘supervision step’. How the artwork goes from this:

With some feedback:

Translation for the notes above, starting from the top left in clockwise order:

1. The pupils and nose (especially the former) look a bit too brown. Try to make them blacker.
2. Having a single mountain in the background looks like a specific mountain, say Mt. Coronet or Mt. Fuji. It’d be better to have a more generic mountain range.
3. This part of the mane would probably look better if it were fluffier.
4. The rear leg should probably be visible from here.
5. The stripes on its fur should probably be visible here.
6. The ear to your left should be a bit longer. (Think of it as a squashed parallelogram.)
7. You should be able to see its fangs when Arcanine’s mouth is closed.
8. Maybe you could make the separate digital pads on the right rear paw.

To this:

(Side-by-side below for a before and after.)

EDIT: And after that another feedback step:

Translation for the notes above, starting from the top left in clockwise order:

1. The right part of Arcanine’s mane looks like a ponytail blowing in the wind, so try to make it a bit shorter.
2. The fur on the rear leg should curl up like on the front legs.
3. Move the light-colored fur so that it starts a bit farther down. Think of it as growing from the back of the hind leg.

To this:

Greetz,
Quuador

[bbobrob]

Seeing the feedback given was definitely super interesting, especially the comments about tiny details of the Pokemon itself (e.g. spikier mane, more slender ear, etc.).

Thanks for sharing!

[niece]

I thought the article was interesting. I wonder if they hold different artist to different standards or styles, and how the standard is determined . Komiya certainly does not meet a strict criteria in “this is how a Pokemon looks like”. As others point out there is a lot of variation in representing a Pokemon. Personally I like that.

[Quuador]

Here the third article, this time by CG artist takuyoa:

Behind Drawing Pokémon TCG Illustrations“Bringing an Illustration to Life”...

Greetz,
Quuador